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r i < Red Well They called him Red; they called him Townie, and City \ Limits, and Carrot Top. And in the personally-stamp- ed heyday he brought to local high school sports they called him other things, besides. Colorful reaction was a na- tural sequel to the presence of Homer Townsend and his squads on fields and playing court -- something they all relished, and part of the game. But Red Townsend he em- erges at the end of it all. Personal contact with the Townsend era ends t h i s month when he retired from Belleville Collegiate the high school where his career as physical education instruc- For helping set patterns of organization in high school sports, Ontario "owes h i mi tor imparted a flair and dash to collegiate sports still re- called with nostalgia. Last night, the recollections came back with a rush as compelling as any his rugby or basketball squads e v e r mustered. Fielding the memories were scores of his old students who joined colleagues and friends at the Canadian Legion's Hol- land Room to pay tribute to the man and the events he or- ganized -- and his personality evoked. For personality was the key to the Townsend times in lo- cal sports -- even if it did tend to blur his serious contri- butions to local and school sports. Scene of Many Memories much" last night's testimonij al was lold.The tribute came( ! from Pete Beach, spokesman, on behalf of s e c o n d a r y ! schools' Ontario Athletic Asso- ciation. And the individual guidance his influence exerted on nu- merous young personalities in contact with the Townsend touch also was repeatedly em- phasized. For Red -- the nickname in- spired by his once-burning hair crop -- that contact be- gan seriously in the early 1940s when he took over as instructor at BCL What became known as the Red Machine -- the football team he reorganized -- began its career, along with Towns- end basketball squads. The personal attitude and vigor he invested in t h e squads drew ready loyalty from his students. In the real sense Red says he *'never was a coach". He never exercised selectiv- ity simply because of talent - although it probably cost championship. "My idea was that every kid on the basketball floor or rugby field should have a chance to play should have a crack at competition, good competition. I just can't see a kid sitting out game af- ter game on the bench after coming out to practice and then not playing." Born near Holloway on the family farmstead, Red went to Belleville High School - BCI's predecessor. He gradu- ated from the then Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph and then the Ontario College of Education in 1931. After two years teaching physical education and science in Ot- tawa he returned to Belleville operating a sports store on Campbell St. In 1943 he re- turned to teaching at BCI, then the city's only h i g h school, to exert his influence on a generation of students and sports squads. Offhand, he can't immedi- ately recall just what champ- ionships his techniques pro- duced. But he easily recol- lects his proudest moment. It came when his basketball team downed top-notch oppo- nents from Niagara Falls to win COSSA championship. "They had a better team than we did/' admits Red. "And after it was all over the coach . . . came over and said: *I never thought a bunch of damn farmers could beat a team like I've got'." In sports endeavors were in- terrupted in the early 1960s after a fall from a step-lad- der while helping organize a campus show, that caused a broken leg. The old injury re- asserted itself years later. Now, Red has been teaching science in recent terms. School games will still bring him out in retirement -- as a spectator. The one - time hockey player and boxer who still relentlessly plays bridge as one of his "favorite sports" is still more enthusiastic about games on the high school le- vel. Yet there have been chan- ges in the lifestyles of gen- erations he's taught -- among the most marked being less family influence on y o u n g people, Red observes. He doesn't believe this a good development. But, he qualifies, the "whole of soci- ety is changing. We haven't seen what these kids can do yet." The In une